The 42nd Food & Wine Classic returns to Aspen Friday through Sunday this week.
Every year, vendors serve food and drinks in the festival’s grand tasting tent. For small businesses, there is a big price tag, and they have to weigh the pros of exposure with the cons of expenses.
But some chefs are invited directly by Food & Wine as talent and receive much more support.
Aspen chef Mawa McQueen was honored to be invited to be talent for the first time ever this year
“I cried,” she said. “I could not believe it.”
She was handpicked by Food & Wine executives to do a demonstration and compete in a cooking competition, something reserved for the best chefs in the industry.
McQueen said it was a big achievement in her career and that she is proud to represent her town.
“I can die tomorrow, and I'm happy because I felt like I achieved something, and nobody can take this away from me,” she said.
McQueen’s journey began two decades ago when she first came to the Roaring Fork Valley. An African, French, American woman, McQueen said she struggled at first to make a place for herself.
Her restaurant Mawa’s Kitchen, in the Aspen Airport Business Center, did not get big investors like those on Aspen’s restaurant row when she first launched.
She struggled for years to get people past the roundabout but eventually managed to do it.
“ABC was a hard call,” McQueen said. “I think finally it paid off. I didn't give up.”
With several restaurants, a granola brand and now an invitation to Food & Wine, she says it’s another dream come true.
Hunter Lewis, editor-in-chief of Food & Wine magazine, met McQueen for the first time at Mawa’s Kitchen a few years back. Since then, he has continued to work with her and has acted as her sous chef, making crepes at The Family Reunion food festival in Virginia.
He was immediately impressed with her food.
“It was a no-brainer to ask her to participate on the grand stage this year,” Lewis said.
And he said McQueen’s reputation precedes her.
“Because she's internationally known, she’s got tons of friends in the business, she's been an incredible partner to Food & Wine,” Lewis said.
The Food & Wine Classic team believes McQueen is the first Aspen local to ever be featured on the stage.
As talent, McQueen will get a hotel right in downtown Aspen, invites to events and all of the ingredients for her seminar paid for. This is not the case for vendors, who foot the bill to showcase their product, in the hopes they will gain new clients.
“It’s really pricey, and it’s really demanding hours, and it’s a long event,” said independent chef Jimena Barahona, who is based in Aspen.
She was a vendor last year at Food & Wine.
At the time, she was working as a private chef at Cuvee. The company applied to be a vendor without telling her. When they were selected, they surprised Barahona for her birthday.
“Not even in my wildest dreams, I will expect to have my own spot there,” she said.
Similar to McQueen, Barahona showed Food & Wine a taste of home with Costa Rican cuisine.
While she loved last year’s experience, she’s not currently in a spot to pay her own way. It takes a lot of time to prep for the festival, during which she would have to turn away paying clients.
“Food & Wine is great,” Barahona said. “I will definitely do it again, do all of the craziness again. But budget wise it's something to think about.”
Vendors pay $2,000 for every staff member, as well as food and labor costs. Barahona estimates it cost her employer around $30,000 to attend Food & Wine last year, or what she called “pocket change” for the big company.
That is on the lower end of what some of these vendors spend.
So while McQueen started her restaurant 13 years ago, Barahona is still establishing her business.
“I think I have to put a little more work in before I do crazy spending,” Barahona said.
Barahona has been building up her client base since she started working as a chef in Aspen 10 years ago. She and McQueen emphasized that they cook food in order to share their cultures with this small mountain town, which has a focus on a few types of cuisine.
“I don’t cook steak or pasta or sushi because this is what you have in town,” McQueen said. “I want to bring more culture because I feel like Aspen has so much culture.”
And she worked hard to carve out a place in Aspen’s restaurant industry.
“I made my place,” McQueen said. “I didn’t find anything. I created it.”
She says she is looking forward to her Food & Wine.
“How can it not be fun in Aspen hearing with my people cheering for me?”
McQueen’s session, “Between Buns: A Breakfast Sandwich Showdown,” will be on Sunday at 10 a.m. at the St. Regis.
In a competition between the best breakfast sandwiches, she’s going to put her own spin on the dish with her usual African, French, American cuisine.
